John Wesley Work (I)

WORK, John Wesley (I). b. Kentucky, 1848?; d. Nashville, Tennessee, 4 February 1923.  Work was the father of musicians John Wesley Work (II)*, Frederick Jerome Work*, Julian Cassander Work (1910-1955), Jennie Daniel Work Ballentyne (1866-1944), and grandfather of John Wesley Work (III)*.  The designation ‘John Wesley Work (I)’ is used instead of ‘John Wesley Work, Sr.’ because the latter commonly refers to a son of the subject of this article.       The place in Kentucky of Work’s birth remains to be determined, and records enable only a rough estimate of his year of birth, e.g., the 1880 US Census shows John Work to be 38 years old, whereas his death certificate in 1923 shows an age of...